The Returned
by ImpalaChick1967
Summary: It all started two years after the final battle. Lives lost at the hand of Voldemort suddenly weren't so lost. People that died in the Final Battle or at the hands of Voldemort and his followers were popping back up where they died. When 8 special people appear that were previously dead, the lives of twenty year-old Harry Potter, his friends and family will be turned upside down.
1. Chapter 1

Ever since the first Return nothing had been normal.

It started at Hogwarts the first year it was reopened after the battle. It had been a normal day and Madame Hooch had taken the first years outside, per usual, to learn how to properly fly a broomstick.

They had been trying to get it to fly into their hands when all of a sudden a young man in a tattered yellow uniform fell onto the ground from out of no where.

As the man groaned and rolled onto his back Madame Hooch gasped in disbelief. "That's not possible."

"Cedric Diggory?"

"That's me." Cedric sat up. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"Somebody!" Madame Hooch exclaimed. "Go get Headmaster McGonnagall!"

The students stared at her with wide eyes, wondering what was going on. "Did I stutter? Now!"

After McGonnagall was informed of the situation, Cedric was brought to the Ministry and was tested with Veritaserum and it checked out. That man was Cedric Diggory. The dead, Cedric Diggory. But he was no longer the seventeen year boy that had entered the Tri-Wizard Tournament and died at Voldemort's hand, but a young man of twenty-three.

The next person to 'come back from the dead' was Colin Creevy. And then Lavander Brown, and Nigel Wolbert, followed by many other people that had died. Not all of them returned yet but the ones that did were all tested with Veritaserum and they all checked out.

Everyone at the Ministry was baffled at how something like that could happen, including newly instated Aurors Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.

"Potter!" Harry looked up to see the Head Auror, Gawain Robards, walking briskly toward him. "We've got two new Returns. Your in charge of administering the Veritaserum."

"Wait, Sir," Harry followed Robards quickly, "not that I'm complaining, because I'm definitely not, but why me? Why not a more experienced Auror?"

Robards chuckled as he stopped in front of his office door. "Trust me, Potter, you'll be thanking me soon enough. Now, try not to squeal too loudly out of excitement, this is still a work place."

Still a bit surprised at the rare sound of Robards laughing Harry just nodded a bit distractedly as Robards walked away.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Harry pushed the office door open to see the backs of two people's heads as they sat down on the two chairs placed in front of Robards' desk.

"Hello, folks," Harry greeted them as he pulled two vials containing excactly three drops of Veritaserum each out of Robards' cabinet, "my name is Harry Potter, and I know your confused but the sooner you're tested the sooner you can be reunited with your fam-"

Harry was cut of as the two people jumped up and spun around, revealing none other than the previously dead James and Lily Potter.

"Harry?" Lily breathed out.

As soon as they got a good look at him their doubts that this was their son mostly disappeared. He was a spitting of James. Right down to the round spectacles. The only difference was his eyes. He had his mother's eyes.

"My boy!" She cried wrapping Harry up in a hug that could rival Mrs. Weasley's.

"Mum?" Harry whispered, his voice cracking as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around his mother.

He turned his gaze onto James. "Dad?"

James shook his head. "This isn't possible. My son is only a year old! That man told us we're were dead!"

"It's true..." Harry stepped away from his mother who was quick to latch onto his arm, not wanting him to get far away. "It's June 10, 2000. You've been dead for nineteen years."

"T-then how are we here?" James asked, struggling to understand the situation.

"Nobody knows." Harry explained. "It's been happening since September. People murdered by Voldemort or one of his followers have been showing up in the places that they were originally killed."

"So you're really my son?" James narrowed his eyes at Harry, who nodded. "Prove it."

Harry chuckled as his mother glares at James. "Okay, you were a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and you were in a group in school called the Marauders. The group consisted of Sirius Black AKA Padfoot, Remus Lupin AKA Moony, you AKA Prongs, and Peter Pettigrew AKA Wormtail."

"My god..." James rushed forward and wrapped both Harry and his wife up in a squeezing hug. "How old are you, Son?"

As they let go Harry answered, "I'm nineteen, twenty next month, and you and mum died nineteen years ago so you two are forty."

James groaned, "Godric Lily, we're oldies, we're ancient, over the hill!"

Lily giggled and whacked James' shoulder with a mock glare.

"That's me you're talking about, too, there Potter!"

"Guys," Harry interrupted James and Lily's banter hesitantly, "I hate to have to do this, but it's protocol. I need to test you with the Veritaserum."

"Of course," James' eyes twinkled, "I used to be an Auror too, you know, Harry. I know all about protocol."

Harry laughed as he handed his parents the vials of the potion. "It's easier if you down it fast because, trust me, it's not very pleasant tasting."

James and Lily both grimaced and quickly swallowed the horrid tasting potion.

Their faces immediately went blank with the effects of the potion.

Harry stepped in front of James, beginning with him.

"What's your full name?"

"James Fleamont Potter."

"What was your parents' names?"

"Fleamont and Euphemia Potter."

"How do you clear the Marauder's Map?"

"By saying 'mischief managed'."

"Good." Murmured Harry with a smile as he stepped toward his mother.

"Full name?"

"Lily Marie Potter."

"What house were you in?"

"Gryffindor."

"What is your patronus?"

"A doe."

"Thank Godric." Harry exhaled.

It felt like a weight was lifted off his chest and the feeling was replaced with a warmth that he couldn't describe. His parents were back and as far as he knew they weren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Quickly Harry administered the antidote and his parents faces immediately regained their emotion.

"So?" Asked James. "How'd it go? Are we us.

A mischievous smirk grew on his face.

"Yes." Harry smiled and his parents immediately engulfed him in another hug.

After a few minutes of not letting go Harry hesitantly stepped back. "I'm going to go ask my boss if I can take a couple of days off to spend with you two. Oh, Ginny will be ecstatic to meet you."

"Who's Ginny?" Questioned Lily as James wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You'll see." Harry gave them a very Sirius/James like smirk.

"Oh, I know that look." Lily narrowed her eyes playfully at her son.

"I invented that look!" James laughed.

"I'll be right back." Harry chuckled and left the office.

James turned to his wife. "Lils, we're forty. Our son, little baby Harry, is almost twenty."

"We've missed so much..." Lily's voice cracked and James pulled her into a hug.

"We're back though." James smoothed down Lily's auburn hair lovingly. "We're not going to miss another thing, Lilyflower, I promise."

Lily let out a watery chuckle, "I told you never to call me that James Potter!"

"Yeah, yeah." James gave Lily's head one last kiss before pulling away. Lily quickly wiped away the tears that had streamed down her face as Harry walked in the room.

"Everything alright?" He asked when he saw their eyes puffy from crying.

"It is now," James assured him, "it is now, my boy."

"Okay, good." Harry smiled and nodded. "Well, my boss has agreed to give me a week off to get to know you guys and introduce you to everyone."

"That's great!" James smiled as Lily exclaimed:

"Only a week!"

"Oh, Lilyflower, the job of an Auror is very demanding." James chuckled.

"James Fleamont Potter!" Lily exclaimed.

"Lils! Not the middle name!" James whined.

"Then do not call me Lilyflower!" Lily glared at him. "It's a wretched nickname!"

"As much as this amuses me...," Harry grinned, "we should be heading to my house. Ginny'll be home from practice soon."

"Who's Ginny?" Lily questioned her son once again.

"My girlfriend." Harry answered.

"What kind of practice does she have?" James tilted his head to the side a bit, curiously.

"Uh," Harry looked to the ground and then back up to his parents, "well Ginny plays for the Holyhead Harpies. She's a chaser, and she actually just joined this year."

"How old is she?" Lily asked as James got over the fact that Harry was dating a professional Quidditch player.

"She's turning nineteen in August." Harry told them.

"And she's already a professional Quidditch player?" James exclaimed. "Blimey, that's impressive. Good on you Harry! I don't even know what she looks like, but she must be a great catch!"

Harry chortled. "Yes I'm a very lucky man to have her."

"Aww," Lily smiled sadly, "my baby's all grown up!"

"Tends to happen over the course of nineteen years, Lils." James rubbed Lily's back soothingly. "Now Harry, let's head to your house. Side-along apparition, eh?"

"Yes," Harry nodded in agreement, "hold on."

Harry apparated away as soon as Lily and James had a good hold on him.

Once they appear in Harry and Ginny's house, Harry steps away from his parents.

"Welcome to my home."


	2. Chapter 2

Harry's home was a comfortable one. It wasn't too big, nor too small.

Soon after Harry gave his parents a tour of it and showed them where they would be sleeping, Ginny apparated into the middle of the living room where the three were seated.

Harry immediately stood.

"Well, Mr. Potter," Ginny smiled slyly, not noticing James or Lily yet, "waiting up for me? Are you aiming to bring chivalry back?"

"Hey, Gin," Harry walked toward Ginny and gave her a quick kiss, "how was practice?"

"It was-" Ginny stopped talking as soon as she noticed Harry's parents looking at her. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Harry, slowly remove your wand and turn around. You take the bloke, I'll take the girl."

Harry let out a laugh at Ginny's words. "No, Gin, take a real close look at them."

Ginny sighed and looked back to James and Lily, still ready to take out her wand at any moment. Soon after, her eyes widened and traveled back to Harry and then back to his parents and so on. "Is that...? Are they... Harry, are your parents Returners?"

Harry nodded with a large grin taking over his face. Ginny suddenly launched herself at him. "Harry that's wonderful!"

After releasing Harry, she turned to James and Lily. "Mr and Mrs. Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name's Ginny."

Lily stepped forward, "hello, Ginny, please call me Lily-"

"-and I, James." James smiled at Ginny as he stepped next to his wife and looked at Harry's redheaded girlfriend. "I see my son took after me in the women department, eh Harry?"

With a slight blush Harry stepped forward and wrapped his arm around Ginny's waist. "Why don't we sit back down and catch up? You can ask whatever questions you have and Ginny and I can answer them."

"Oh, yes of course." Ginny said as she led Lily and James back to the sitting area.

Once everyone was sitting Harry, who was next to Ginny with an arm draped over her shoulder, said, "ask away."

"What has your life been like?" James asked with a sad look on his face. "We've missed so much."

"Chaotic." Was the first word that came to Harry's mind. "But let's not get into the details. Just know that everything is great now."

"Okay," said Lily with a 'we'll talk about this later' look, "what house were you in?"

"Gryffindor." Harry smiled as his father's face lit up.

"Where the brave dwell at heart!" He exclaimed. "Rightfully so! Did you play Quidditch?"

"Yes," Harry told them, "seeker. I was captain for a year too."

"That's amazing!" James exclaimed once again, excitedly.

"James, calm down," Lily laughed at her husband, "don't overexcite yourself, now."

James turned to her with wide eyes, "Lilyflower, this is our son. This is baby Harry." Lily glared at him for the nickname. James then turned to his grown son. "But now he has a job, and a house, and a girlfriend, and he doesn't need us anymore."

"Hey!" Harry interrupted James' rambling. "You two are my parents. I have always needed you and I always will."

"Oh, Sweetheart," Lily gave Harry a watery smile, "who's looked after you all these years?"

"Well, once I found out I was a wizard and went to Hogwarts, I met one of my best friends, Ron Weasley, Ginny's brother actually." Harry glanced at Ginny with a loving smile. "Mrs. Weasley took me in and treated me like one of her own. Hell, she still gives me the classic 'Weasley sweater' on Christmas."

"Well I should hope so, love. You're part of the family." Ginny told her boyfriend firmly.

"Yeah, I know." Harry couldn't resist and gave Ginny a quick kiss on the lips. "And I couldn't be more grateful that she accepted me so easily. And Hermione too for that matter. God knows that it wouldn't have been good for her and Ron's ever-complicated relationship if she acted around her the way she used to act around Fleur."

"Hermione?" Lily interrupted the couple hesitantly. "Fleur? Who are they?"

"Well," Harry turned to face his parents again, "Hermione is my other best friend and also Ron's girlfriend. Fleur is Bill's, another of Ginny's brothers, wife."

Lily just nodded where as James bluntly asked, "Geez, just how many brothers do you have?"

"James!" Lily scolded her husband while landing a sharp smack on his shoulder.

"Ow!" He yelped and cradled his shoulder. "Lils, that hurt! I was only asking."

"Yeah, it's fine I don't mind." Ginny assures Lily. "Okay, so you know about Bill and Ron. Bill's my oldest brother and Ron is my youngest older brother. So the oldest is Bill, and then there's Charlie, then Percy, and there's Fr- uh, there's George. Then Ron and then lastly me, the youngest of the family. I had another brother named,

F-Fred. But he, um, he died during the war. He was George's twin."

By the time Ginny's done telling James and Lily about her family Lily's eyes are watering.

"And Fred hasn't returned?" Lily gently asked the distraught girl who her son was soothing by rubbing her back and pressing light kisses into her temple.

"No," Harry answers for his girlfriend, "you two are the first ones that the Weasleys, Hermione, or myself have a strong connection with."

"If it's not to much to ask, who else died fighting Voldemort?" James asked as Lily cringed at the name.

"Oh," Harry immediately got nervous about telling his parents of Sirius and Remus' deaths. "Just promise me you won't have a heart attack and, well, die again."

"Why? Harry, who died? Tell me!" James asks his son with an urgent yet anxious tone.

"Uh, well," Harry stuttered, "Sirius and Remus died during the war. I'm really sorry that you had to find out like this."

For a while James was silent and processing information. "M-Moony and Padfoot... D-dead? No, no they can't be!"

"Dad," Harry put a hand on his father's shoulder and James' head shot up at being called 'Dad', "I'm sorry."

"How?" Lily, who previously had been silently crying, asked in a broken whisper.

"Sirius died in the Death Chamber in the Department of Mysteries part of the Ministry of Magic. Bellatrix LeStrange hit him with a curse and h-he fell through the veil. All my fault really. I'm the reason he was there in the first place. I was naive and instead of thinking things through I had to go and jump the gun. Sirius went to save my sorry arse and it got him killed. Just like I get everyone kil-"

"Stop!" Ginny shouted over his incessant rambling. "Harry Potter, you listen to me."

She gently took his face in her hands and faced him to look at her. "You are not the reason Sirius is dead. Or Remus, or Tonks, or Fred for that matter. Bellatrix, and Dolohov, and the rest of the Death Eaters, and overall Voldemort is responsible. He is the reason this war happened. He's the the reason you grew up without parents and he's the reason that my family and I will have to live the rest of our lives without Fred."

Ginny paused as Harry wiped the stray tears from her cheeks. "He's reason George couldn't look in a mirror for months after Fred died w-without breaking down. You are the reason it's all over. You saved everyone, Harry. And everyone knew you were worth fighting with. They knew what they were getting themselves into, yet they still followed along because they believed in you. I believe in you, Harry Potter, and I always have."

With a sad sigh Harry kissed Ginny's cheek and turned to his parents.

James had a tear running down his cheek at the thought of his best friends dead and Lily was holding him while also tearing up.

Once they were all calmed down James quietly asked, "Tonks? Who's that?"

"Tonks is- uh, was," Harry corrected himself quickly, "Remus' wife. They were married for a while before they died. They actually had a son, my godson, Teddy."

Harry pulled his wallet out of his pocket and slid out a picture of a boy who was about two or three years old with turquoise hair. He handed it to James. "He's actually coming this weekend to spend a couple of nights, but it's okay if you want me to call his grandmother and tell her I can't watch him."

"No!" James immediately exclaimed. "I'd love to meet Remus 'I'm too dangerous to ever have a family' Lupin's son. He has Moony's eyes."

"Yeah." Harry agreed.

"Oh, but he's definitely developed Tonks' clumsiness." Ginny laughed lightly.

"Tonks..." Lily said. "I've definitely heard that name before."

"You probably have," Harry nodded, "Tonks is just just her last name. Her name's Nymphadora. She's Sirius' cousin, Andromeda's daughter."

"Isn't she, like, ten years younger than him?" Lily asked her son.

"Thirteen actually." Harry corrected her.

"Way to go, Moony!" James laughed before his wife silenced him with a stern glare that could rival McGonnagall's. "Did Padfoot ever get hitched over the nineteen years we were gone?"

Harry laughed uncomfortably, "about that..."


	3. Chapter 3

It was now two days after James and Lily arrived and the news about Sirius' imprisonment and Harry's home situation as a child had not been forgotten, but merely pushed into the back of everybody's minds. Today Andromeda was bringing a two-year old Teddy Lupin to Harry's house for a weekend stay. She had yet to know that James and Lily were two of the many Returners and she was in for a shock when she arrived.

"Okay," Harry addressed his parents over the table during breakfast, "now Andromeda will be here around twelve. That only four hours away. It'll be a shock to her that people close to me have finally Returned."

"And don't be nervous if she get emotional." Ginny added as she sealed a piece of bacon and washed it down with pumpkin juice. "She'll probably start asking about Remus and Tonks and if they'll be back."

"Don't say anything about the color pink!" Harry suddenly exclaimed.

Lily and James immediately looked confused.

"Why not?" Lily questioned her son.

"Tonks is a metamorphmagus." Ginny explained. "Her favorite color to keep her hair was pink."

Harry nodded in confirmation. "Andromeda always breaks out crying if you even mention it."

"Okay." Lily and James both nodded.

••••

Four hours later the Potters and Ginny were sitting at the dining table still, conversing when they heard a pop in the living room.

"That'll be them." Harry stood and left to go to where Andromeda and Teddy were. Ginny, Lily, and James followed.

"Andromeda," Harry greeted Tonks' mother who was holding a babbling turquoise haired toddler. "Hey Teddy! Oh, looks like his hair is turquoise again."

Andromeda handed the toddler to Harry who immediately begins to talk to him. "You must be real happy if your hair isn't brown."

"Oh, he is!" Andromeda laughed. "All I had to do was mention Uncle Harry and it was immediately a flash of colors before he decided on this one again."

"Must be his favorite color." Andromeda and Harry looked up to see Ginny and Lily and James standing behind her.

"Hello, Ginny." Andromeda's eyes landed on James and Lily. "Hello, I don't think we've met. I'm Andromeda Tonks."

"Nice to meet you." Lily said quietly. "My name is Lily Potter and this is my husband, James."

Upon hearing this information Andromeda's eyes widened and her jaw dropped a bit. "H-Harry's parents?"

"They are." Nodded Harry.

"A-and Dora and Remus?" She hesitantly asked, her voice shaky.

Harry shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, Andromeda, nobody else has Returned yet."

"It's alright, Harry." Andromeda gave Harry a small smile. "When people first started coming back, I had myself promise that I wouldn't be disappointed if my family didn't Return. And then my husband came back and I found my self hoping again that my daughter and son-in-law would show up. But here we are months later and there's no sign of them. I've learned not to get my hopes too high."

She then walked over to James and Lily and put her hand out to shake theirs. "It's splendid to meet you."

"It's great to meet you, too." Lily smiled.

Andromeda looked at James. "You, Remus, and my cousin Sirius were all good friends, right?"

"The best." James nodded in confirmation.

Andromeda just nodded slightly, then turned around and walked toward Harry and Teddy. She kissed Teddy on the head. "Goodbye, darling. Goodbye Harry, Ted will come get him Sunday evening ."

"Okay. G' bye, Andromeda."

Andromeda disappeared with a 'pop'.

"She seems very nice." Lily said after a few moments of no noise save for Teddy's random babbling.

"She is." Harry nodded.

"So," James smirked after a few moments, "this is mini Moony, eh?"

"Yes," Harry smiled as the toddler reached out for Ginny who took him into her arms, "this is Teddy Remus Lupin."

"He's just adorable!" Lily cooed at the child. "He's got Remus' eyes and nose, that's for sure."

"Is he a metamorphmagus?" James questioned as he looked at one of his best friend's son with a lingering sadness.

"Yeah, he is." Harry told them. "He hasn't quite gained control of it yet, but he will eventually."

"If you don't mind me asking," Lily started hesitantly, "is he a-a-"

"A werewolf?" Harry asked when she didn't finish her question. "No, but he has some werewolf like qualities."

"Like what?" Asked James, relieved that teddy didn't have to go through what his father did.

"Like around the full moon he gets particularly cranky." Chuckled Ginny as bounced Teddy up and down on her hip rhythmically.

"I just can't get over the fact that Remus," James laughs, "made this."

Ginny laughed. "He almost didn't with his stupid mantra."

"What mantra?" Asked Lily.

"Too old, too poor, too dangerous." Harry and Ginny spoke together as if it was rehearsed.

"Poor Tonks almost had to crack him over the head with a bat before he'd admit that he loved her." Ginny added, still chuckling.

"That's Moony for you." James looked back to Teddy. "Can I hold him? I haven't held a baby since, well- you know."

"Yeah, of course!" Ginny smile as she gently passed a dozing Teddy to Harry's father.

"He's adorable." Lily whispered as she looked at the baby in her husband's arms. "How old was he when...?"

"Only about a month." Harry told her sadly.

"Poor thing."

"Yeah." Harry nodded in agreement. "They really loved him."

"Of course they did." James ran a light hand over Teddy's head. "Remus didn't let his walls down to people often, but when he did, he did it with all his heart."

"He was a great dad." Harry chuckled. "A bit nervous, but great none the less. Sirius would've taken the mickey out of him the way he used baby talk with Teddy."

"How long was Sirius gone before he was born?" Asked James with a distant look in his eyes."

"About two years."

"And I wasn't here through any of it." James shook his head ruefully. "I couldn't protect any of you. You, your mother, hell I couldn't even protect my best friends from being killed. It's like it's happening all over again with Teddy being orphaned."

"But there's one difference." Harry told his father. "Teddy has still has family that loves him. He has Ginny, me, the Weasleys, his grandparents, and now he has you two to tell him all about how great his father was."

James didn't respond immediately. All he did was look down at the sleeping boy in his arms. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Anyways-" Harry was interrupted by the fireplace lighting up.

"Harry! Ginny!" Hermione called out in an excited voice before she saw them and the other two people in the living room. "Oh, Harry, is that your par- oomph!"

She fell out of the fireplace with Ron on top of her. "Mione, you're supposed to move."

"Well I'm sorry, Ronald," Hermione huffed as they stood up, "I was a bit distracted by the sight of Harry's parents."

"Wait- what?" Ron hurriedly looked around the room before his eyes fell on James and Lily. "Are they...?"

"Yeah," Harry smiled, "Mum, Dad, meet my best mates, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron, Hermione, meet my parents, James and Lily Potter."

Hermione immediately rushed forward and began to shake their hands. Ron does the same, but not as hurriedly. "Hello, nice to meet you."

"Likewise," smiled James, "it's brilliant to meet the people my son grew up with."

Lily nodded in agreement.

"Well this just blows our news out of the water, doesn't it, Mione?" Ron asked Hermione with a slight laugh.

"I guess." Hermione chuckled back.

"Wait what news?" Ginny asked.

In reply, Hermione simply help up her left hand.

"Ah!" Ginny shrieked. "You're getting married!"

Ginny rushed over to Hermione as Harry walked up to Ron and gave him a pat on the back. "You finally plucked up the courage, eh mate?"

"Yep." Ron nodded with a smile as he looked loving at Hermione as Ginny fussed over her ring.

"How'd you do it?" Ginny asked as she looked up from the diamond ring.

"Well Mione and I were in a bit of a row-"

"Nothing new there!" Ginny laughed and Ron glared at her before continuing.

"As I was saying, we were rowing and in the middle of it I just took the ring out of my pocket, got on my knee and did it."

Harry chuckled, "well congrats you two."

"Thanks, Harry."


	4. Chapter 4

A week had passed since Teddy's visit and the Weasleys' had been introduced to James and Lily during their weekly Sunday dinner at The Burrow that Harry and Ginny had taken them to.

It was an emotional night because during dinner Mrs. Weasley had slipped up and called George, 'Fred'. Of course after realizing her mistake she had broken down into tears and George excused him self from the table. He went up the stairs and into his and his twin's old room shakily. It was not an unusual occurrence, although it started happening less and less over the last two years.

Eventually he returned downstairs, his eyes puffy and swollen. He immediately said his goodbyes and apparated home.

Later that night after Ginny went to bed–she was always more tired than usual after nights like that– James asked Harry about what had happened as Lily and them sat on the sofa.

"Does that happen often?"

Harry nodded wearily, "unfortunately. George hasn't been the same since Fred died. It's like half of him is gone, which techically it is."

"That's awful," Lily shook her head sadly. "I can't even imagine going through it."

"I think it's different for him than it is for the rest of the Weasleys'. I mean yeah, they lost a son and a brother, but George lost his twin. The person who was always there. I just think that he never really thought about what would happen if Fred wasn't there because he always was." Harry explained the best he could.

Just as Lily opened her mouth to speak again, a Patronus in the form of a jackalope came into the sitting room through the fireplace.

Robard's voice filled the quiet house, "Potter, Get to the office. Now, Potter, no lazing about!"

"That's your boss?" James asked with a scoff. "Real friendly fellow, huh?"

"He's just tough on me because he knows I can do well," Harry explained feebly as he started toward his room to tell Ginny and change. "I've got to go, and I probably won't be back till late, so don't wait up."

In his bedroom Ginny was laying down, facing away from the door. "Gin?"

"Yeah?" She mumbled sleepily.

"I've gotten called into work, I have to go," Harry told her as he finished pulling on his work robes. He sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her hair lightly.

"D'you have to?"

"I do," Harry nodded apologetically. "I think it may be a Return."

Ginny shot up from her position quickly, almost hitting Harry in the process. "D-do you think it's Fred?"

"I don't know, Gin," Harry sighed and kissed his girlfriend's forehead. "I won't be back until late, so try to get some sleep."

"I miss him," Ginny said sadly as she laid back down.

"I know," Harry sighed and leaned down to plant one last kiss on her forehead. "I love you, Ginny."

"I love you too, Harry," Ginny gave him a weak smile.

Harry smiled back and slowly he picked himself back up off of the bed and apparated to his cubicle in the Auror Office.

"Potter!"

Harry looked up to see Robards standing by his closed office door. Quickly, he made his way to the man.

"Took you long enough," Robards mumbled. In a louder voice he said, "ain't it just your lucky month, Potter?"

"What do you mean, Sir?" Harry asked, perplexed.

"Just get in there and do the test," Robards said as he began to walk away. "You'll thank me later, and once again, do not squeal."

"Who is it this time?" Thought Harry anxiously as he slowly turned the door knob and pushed the door open.

The first thing he saw when he opened the door was a man with shoulder-length, black hair.

"Sirius?" Harry asked in shock as he stepped in the room fully and closed the door.

The man spun around. It was Sirius Black. "Harry?"

Harry wanted to immediately rush forward and embrace his godfather, but he knew he needed to follow protocol. "Yeah, w-we, uh need to test you with Veritaserum just to be sure, Mr. Black."

"Mr. Black?" Guffawed Sirius.

"Shut up," chuckled Harry as he grabbed the Veritaserum and handed it to Sirius. "Three drops will do."

Sirius nodded and put three drops into his tongue. He immediately went into a blank state. Harry took the potion from him and set it down.

"Name?" He asked.

"Sirius Orion Black."

"Date of birth?"

"November 3, 1959."

"Nicknames?"

"Padfoot and Snuffles."

"How did you escape Hogwarts before being kissed by the Dementors?"

"On a Hippogriff."

"What was the Hippogriff's name?"

"Buckbeak."

Harry let out a huge sigh of relief, "thank Merlin."

He quickly administered the antidote and when Sirius was himself again he asked, "did I pass? Am I me?"

"Yeah," Harry laughed as he threw his arms around his godfather. "Merlin Sirius, I missed you."

"Well, it seems like I saw you just yesterday," Sirius chucked as he hugged Harry, "but if I remembered the afterlife then I'm sure I would've missed you, too."

After a few minutes Harry pulled away, "do you know how long you've been gone?"

"Yeah, that guy only told me that I'd been dead for four years and now I'm back." Sirius replied. "And apparently my names been cleared. Real good that did after I died."

"Alright, well, why don't we go to my house and I'll answer your questions?" Harry suggested.

"Okay," Sirius nodded. "I'm assuming we're going to side along apparate?"

Harry nodded and grasped Sirius' shoulder.

"Don't splinch me," Sirius said as Harry got ready to apparate. He shook his head with a chuckle and apparated into the kitchen of his house.

"So this is home sweet home?" Asked Sirius.

"Yep," nodded Harry as he put up silencing charms. When Sirius gave him an odd look, he explained, "I don't want to wake Ginny up."

"Ginny Weasley?" Asked Sirius with a loud laugh. "You and Ginny?"

Harry nodded and Sirius continued to laugh, "finally!"

"Yeah whatever," Harry mumbled as he blushed a bit. He took a seat at the table and said, "have a seat."

Sirius sat down and said, "so I can ask anything I want?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded.

"Okay," Sirius thought for a second, "who else died after me?"

"Wow," Harry's eyes widened, "you really don't waste time, do you?"

"Go on, Harry," Sirius said, "get it over with. I can take it."

"Okay," Harry sighed. "Well, not long after you, Dumbledore died..."

After a moment of letting it sink in, Sirius asked incredulously, "Albus Dumbledore is... Dead?"

Harry nodded sadly and Sirius asked, "Who else?"

"Mad-Eye Moody and Snape also died."

Sirius was a bit shocked, but wasn't as upset with those revelations as he wasn't as close with the two.

"Sirius," Harry sighed sadly, "these last three aren't going to be as easy for me to say or for you to hear."

"Okay," Sirius nodded cautiously, "just get on with it."

"Fred Weasley," Sirius involuntarily gasped upon hearing the twin's name, "Tonks, and Remus died the night of the Final Battle."

"No," Sirius murmured. "It can't be. Moony, Tonks, and Fred can't be dead."

"Sirius, I'm so sorry." Harry said quietly, placing a hand on the man's shoulder.

"But they'll all come back, right?" Sirius asked hopefully. "Moony will come back? Right?"

"I really hope so, Sirius"

"A-am I the first to Return?" Questioned Sirius after a few minutes of heavy silence.

Harry shook his head, "quite a few people who died fighting for our side have Returned. Only a couple very close to us have come back so far."

"Who?" Asked Sirius halfheartedly.

"Well, let's just wait it out and see, shall we?" Asked Harry mischievously.

"Really?" Whined Sirius and Harry nodded. "Fine. Fill me in on how life's been."

Harry and Sirius talked until the wee hours of the morning. Harry lifted the charms around six-thirty when he knew that Ginny woke up and came to the kitchen for some tea.

Not long after Ginny walked into the room while stifling a yawn.

In her tired state, seeing Sirius didn't register as 'not normal' right away. "G'morning, Harry, Sirius."

She made her way to the tea kettle until halfway there, she stopped. She spun around on her heels with a gasp of, "Sirius?!"

"Hey Ginny!" Sirius smiled. Ginny immediately rushed over and embraced him.

"Sirius, it's great to see you!" Ginny smiled as she pulled back. She was happy to see Sirius, Harry could tell, although he could still see the little flash of disappointment in her eyes that it wasn't Fred.

The three talked for a while until Ginny had to leave for work.

Around 7:45 footsteps could be heard walking down the stairs.

"Really, Lils?" They heard a voice coming from outside the door. Sirius' gaze immediately snapped to Harry, who nodded. Sirius quickly stood and faced the door. "But I don't wanna go on a run, I wanna go back to sleep."

"Seriously, James you act like a child sometimes," Lily was shaking her head as she pushed open the kitchen door.

The couple's jaws dropped when they saw Sirius.

"Padfoot?"


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the day in the Potter household was spent catching up and just relishing in the fact that things were beginning to get better.

"It's not the same without Moony," Sirius sighed as he, Lily, James, and Harry sat at the kitchen table drinking cold butterbeers. Ginny was still at practice because they had a big game coming up which would determine whether or not they had a shot at making the Quidditch World Cup.

"It's really not," James agreed quietly. "Every time we make a 'Sirius/serious' joke I keep expecting him to tell us how juvenile we are and then laugh at it anyways."

"He changed," Sirius told James. "Those years you two were dead and I was in Azkaban, I mean. He has grey hairs for crying out loud! Or he did. Merlin, this is all so confusing."

"I don't know about how he acted when you guys were in school," Harry said, "but from what I saw, Tonks and Teddy changed him a lot, too. He was a lot happier those last couple of years."

"Tonks?" Questioned Sirius. "What did she do? And who's Teddy?"

James laughed, "you didn't tell him about Moony and Tonks?"

"It slipped my mind," Harry said sheepishly before turning to his godfather. "A bit after you died Tonks and Remus got together."

"You're kidding?" Sirius laughed. When Harry shook his head he continued, "I always wondered why she asked me what hair color he liked on girls. I remember she came up to me one day and said, 'so Sirius, is Remus into brunettes or is more of a blonde-liking bloke?' All that time she was trying to get with him!"

James, Lily, and Harry all laughed and James said, "what did you tell her?"

"I said I didn't know because he's more of a 'lone wolf'." Sirius smirked and the rest of the chuckled at his lame joke.

"And did Tonks laugh at your lame joke?" Lily asked Sirius with a raised eyebrow.

"No," Sirius shook his head sheepishly. "She glared, slapped me upside the head, and then walked off. It was almost as bad as the time I called her Nymphie when she was six."

"Oh yeah," Harry chuckled. "Calling her anything but Tonks would do it."

"Remus was the only exception," the four looked up to see Ginny standing in the doorway. "He called her 'Dora'."

"Hey, Gin," Harry stood up and gave Ginny a 'hello' kiss. "How'd practice go?"

"Gwenog worked us to the bone and I feel like my arm is going to fall off," Ginny winced as she stretched her right arm.

"You poor little thing," laughed Sirius, "playing professional Quidditch, many people's dream, and then complaining."

Ginny teasingly glared at him, "at least I wasn't killed by drapery like someone."

"Shove off," Sirius grumbled.

••••

The Granger-Weasley household

"Ron!" Hermione called out to her fiancé. "Your mum is here."

"So, dear," Mrs. Weasley set a stack of magical magazines down on the kitchen table, "I though we'd look for a dress for your maid of honor. Who is she so we can insert her height, weight, and other measurements into the magazine?"

"I asked Ginny."

"Wonderful!" Mrs. Weasley smiled as she put her wand to the first magazine and muttered, "Ginevra Molly Weasley." The models in the book shifted and turned into little copies of Ginny wearing various dresses.

Ron walked into the kitchen from where he was seated in the living room. He walked up to his mother and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Hey Mum."

"Hello Ronnie," Mrs. Weasley hugged her son back. She she released him she said, "while me and Hermione look at dresses for Ginny I thought that you could have a look at some different types of dress robes to see which ones you'd like. And remember that Hermione wanted the maid of honor's dress to be dark blue, so try to keep with the color scheme."

Ron bit back a groan. "Yes, Mum."

Half an hour and many many dress robes later a blue-jay Patronus flew gracefully into the couple's apartment through the small fireplace that Ron had hit his head off of many times.

"Ron, Auror Robards said he needs you in his office in ten minutes or less. You better be there, it sounded urgent."

"Yes!" Ron exclaimed and then sheepishly smiled at Hermione and Mrs. Weasley's combined glares. "I mean o-oh no, that was Kelly Fortier, one of the desk workers. I've got to go to work."

Ron quickly set off to his and Hermione's shared bedroom to change into his charcoal grey work robes.

When he came out Hermione sighed with a slightly envious look on her face. She stood up and gave Ron a hug. She whispered in his ear, "you lucky prat."

Ron chuckled as he hugged her back. "Love you too, Mione."

"I Love you," she murmured into his shoulder.

After giving her a short but sweet kiss Ron released Hermione, gave his mother a hug and then apparated to the Aurors' department of the Ministry.

"Ron!"

He looked up to see Kelly sitting at her desk with paper work spread out in front of her.

"Hey, Kelly," Ron walked over to her. "What did Robards want me for? Not that I'm not thankful, because believe me, I am. He got me out of wedding planning with my mother."

Kelly gave off a light laugh. "I don't know, but he wants you to go to his office. And it sounds important, so I wouldn't dawdle if I were you."

"Thanks," Ron nodded and then walked to Robards' office. He rapped his knuckles against the closed door twice and then waited for an answer.

"Come in."

With a deep breath Ron walked into the room. Robards was sitting behind his desk which had many small vials of Veritaserum on it.

"You wanted to see me, Sir?"

"Yes," Robards looked up at Ron, "I've got some new Returns and I didn't want Potter to be the only new Auror getting experience."

"So I'm going to be testing people with Veritaserum?" Ron asked to be clear.

"Yes," Robards nodded, "one person to start with. As more come you'll be assigned a few. Do you want the guy right now or do you need a few minutes?"

"Well, " Ron said as he thought, "they'll probably be asking a bunch of questions so I think I'd rather get it done quick and question him now."

"Alright," Robards nodded and stood. He began to walk to the door. "I'll send him in. Just remember to stay professional and follow protocol."

Ron nodded in understanding, "yes Sir."

"Good luck, Weasley. And when your done you're welcome to go home. Robards went to leave the office. "And take the day off tomorrow."

Ron had turned around and began to gather up a vial of Veritaserum, still confused about being able to take the day off, when the door opened.

"Ickle little Ronniekins?"

Ron's eyes widened and his heart dropped at the sound of the voice.

"You're an Auror? Go figure."

Ron spun around. What he saw was a carbon copy of George, but with two ears. "Fred?"

"The one and only," Fred smirked.

Ron immediately rushed forward and threw his arms around his older brother.

"Woah," Fred chuckled as he tentatively hugged Ron back. "I'm dead for a short while and you turn all sentimental?"

Ron pulled back reluctantly. "A 'short while', Fred? You were gone for two years!"

"Years?" Fred's smirk turned into a frown. "W-what do you mean two years?"

"It's June 18, 2000," Ron told him with a sad look.

"I-I left George for years?" Fred immediately started shaking his in denial. "N-no, we swore to one another that we'd never do that."

"Fred, I'm sorry," Ron held the vial of Veritaserum out to his recently Returned older brother. "But the sooner I question you with the Veritaserum, the sooner you can see George. I know for a fact that he's really missed you."

Fred groaned and ran a hand over his face in exasperation. He took the vial from Ron, "okay, just please hurry, I need to see George."

"Ok, there's only three drops in there, so just drink it andI swear I'll be quick, I know you want to see everyone. After we're done I'll send Hermione a Patronus and have her gather everyone at The Burrow."

Fred raised an eyebrow and said, "Hermione, huh?"

Ron's ears burned red and he grumbled, "just swallow the potion."

With a chuckle Fred drank it and went into the natural blank state.

"What's your full name?" Ron began to question after he took the vial from Fred.

"Fred Gideon Weasley."

"How many siblings do you have?"

"Six."

"Which sibling are you the closest with?"

"George."

"What's his full name?"

"George Fabian Weasley."

"Is he older or younger than you?"

"Younger."

"By how much?"

"Six minutes and thirty seconds."

With a big smile Ron quickly administered the counter potion and the life came back to Fred's brown eyes.

"Can we go now?" Fred asked impatiently.

"Not yet," Ron shook his head. "It'll be easier to have everyone together. So let me send Hermione a Patronus and have her get a hold of everyone. In the meanwhile you can ask me any questions you want and I'll answer them."

Ron quickly sent his Jack Russell Patronus off to Hermione and then him and Fred sat down in the two chairs in front of Robards' desk.

"So you and Granger?" Fred smirked. "How'd you manage that?"

Ron mumbled something inaudible.

"What?"

"I said," Ron sighed, "we kissed during the Final Battle."

Fred shook his head in disbelief while chuckling. "Leave it to you to do something like that Ron."

Ron tried glare at him, but in the sheer joy of the situation couldn't manage it. "What else do you want to know?"

"How did I die?" Fred asked. "The last thing I remember is looking at Percy. I think he made a joke."

"He did," Ron nodded sadly. "After that a stray curse made a wall explode. It fell on you and we think it killed you on impact."

"Death by wall?" Fred scrunched up his nose in disappointment. "I thought it would have been a bit cooler than that."

"Sorry to disappoint you, "Ron chuckled.

After a few moments of silence, Fred suddenly asked, "how did everyone handle my death? And answer honestly, don't sugarcoat it for me."

Ron took a deep breath and began to explain. "I think that Mum, Dad, and George took it the hardest. Percy was riddled with total guilt. He thought that it was his fault that you died and that if he hadn't been so uptight his joke wouldn't have caught you by surprise."

"That's completely bonkers!" Fred interrupted.

"I know that, and so does everyone else. It's just that he had been so pompous for years, and then he had finally come to his senses, just to have his little brother die. Hermione helped me out a lot for a long time after the Battle. Ginny, Charlie, and Bill kinda leaned on each other. And Ginny had Harry, too. They're together again by the way." Ron informed Fred.

"They are?" Ron nodded. "I hope that George threatened him with a Canary Cream, at the least, if he hurt her."

"Um," Ron hesitated. "George hasn't really pranked anyone or made many jokes since you died, Fred."

"What?" Fred exclaimed. "It surely wasn't that bad that he stopped pranking, it couldn't be!"

"Fred," Ron said firmly to his brother. "You died. You can't expect us to have moved on just like that! Mum and Dad lost their son, we all lost our brother. George lost his twin for crying out loud! You were there one second and gone the next! You know, Mum slips up and calls George 'Fred' sometimes. Then she starts sobbing and George goes upstairs into your old room. He doesn't come out for almost two hours and when he finally does, you can tell that he'd been crying."

"Merlin, Ron," Fred sighed dejectedly. "I didn't want to leave, but we all went to Hogwarts knowing what could happen that day."

"Yeah," Ron whispered, "but you don't think it's gonna happen until it happens to your family."

At that moment Hermione's otter Patronus appeared. "Ron, we're all here in the living room. And we're also all confused as to why we're here."

"Even Charlie?" Asked Fred with wide eyes. His older brother usually only seldom came home from the dragon sanctuary.

"Yeah," Ron nodded. "He comes home more often since it happened."

"Well," Fred said as he stood up quickly, "what are we waiting for?"

"Fred," Ron also stood, "I think I should explain to them what's happening. You should stay in the kitchen while I do that."

"Okay," Fred nodded in agreement. "Can we just go?"

Ron nodded and gripped Fred's shoulder. He apparated them to the garden of The Burrow and together they walked to the back door and entered the kitchen.

"I'll call to you when I'm ready," Ron said to Fred who nodded. He then went into the living room.

"Hey everyone," Ron smiled as he saw his family. "Thanks for coming."

"This better be important Ron," George sighed. "I was trying to do inventory."

"He's right Ron we can't just drop everything every time you want to have a 'family get together'," Bill added as he looked at his eight month pregnant wife.

"No, this is important," Ron's smile grew. "There was a Return."

Everybody's eyes immediately snapped to Ron.

"R-Ron," Mrs. Weasley started, her eyes getting misty, "who Returned?"

"Fred!" Ron faced the kitchen door and called out to his brother, "why don't you come say 'hi' to everyone?"

Everyone turned to look at the door as Fred came walking in with a smirk on his face, "hey!"

There was a shuddering intake of breath from George and a tearful shriek from Mrs. Weasley.

"Fred!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed as she stood from her sitting position on the couch and ran to her son. She pulled him into a squeezing hug and in return Fred wrapped his arms around her. "My baby, I missed you so much!"

"I know," Fred murmured as he rubbed her back soothingly. "I'm so sorry I left you guys."

After a while Fred had managed to pry her arms off of him and began to make his way around the room, hugging everyone. He met Harry's parents, and saw Sirius again as well. He got to George, who had been hanging back and didn't step forward to greet him.

"Hey Georgie," Fred smiled softly. "Why so glum looking, brother?"

With tears gathering in his eyes George asked, "a-are you really here, Freddie?"

"In the flesh," Fred laughed. All of a sudden George surged forward and pulled Fred into the tightest hug he ever had. Fred didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around his, now crying, brother. "You don't need to cry, Georgie. I'm not going anywhere for a very long time, hopefully."


	6. Chapter 6

"Mum, you need to stop, this is embarrassing."

Harry re-messed his hair after his mother smoothed it down in an attempt to tame it.

"It's not every day that a dead mother gets to fix her suddenly nineteen year old son up for a date with his girlfriend," Lily tutted as her son's unruly black locks popped back up.

"That sentence just shows me how absolutely bat-shit crazy my life is," Harry chuckled a bit ruefully.

"Watch your language young man," Lily glared at Harry playfully. "Now, you must tell me, where are you and Ginny headed to?"

"Well, I was thinking of taking her to the Harpies pitch to fly around a bit and then-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Lily put her hand up and stopped Harry mid sentence. "You're taking your girlfriend to where she works, on a date?"

"Well, um I was," Harry said unsurely. "What's wrong with that?"

Lily tutted. "Harry, the poor girl is there everyday. I mean, I understand that she loves flying, but isn't going to work on a date a bit much?"

"I-I guess," Harry agreed. "What should I do? We're supposed to leave in a couple of hours."

"Well," Lily began, "I always use to love when your father would take me for a romantic walk through this beautiful little park in muggle London, and then we would have a candle-lit picnic under the stars."

"Walk and a picnic," Harry nodded, "I can do that. I can definitely do that."

•••

"Stop cheating, Padfoot!" James exclaimed as his cards exploded in his face, yet again.

"I'm not cheating!" Sirius retorted. "How the hell do you cheat at Exploding Snap?"

"You can cheat at anything Sirius," James raised an eyebrow from behind his soot stained glasses. "It's you, we're talking about here. Tell him, Moony, he's a cheating bastard."

Both James and Sirius looked to the right where they expected their friend to be sitting, playfully rolling his eyes and declaring either James paranoid or Sirius, indeed, a cheater.

Sirius sighed sadly, "I'm starting to think he'll never come back, Prongs."

James threw his cards onto the coffee table and leaned into the back of the couch. "You can't think that way, Padfoot. You have to stay positive."

"It's hard to stay positive when one of your best friends are dead," Sirius chuckled bitterly. "Trust me, I'd know."

"He'll come back," James said confidently. "Just wait, you'll see."

•••

"Fred, get down from there! You could get hurt," George yelled at his twin as he watched him climb high up a ladder to reach the top shelf of trick wands.

"Georgie," Fred sighed as he placed a pack of wands on the display, "I'm fine, I'm not going to fall down and die all over again."

George sighed in relief as Fred finally made his way down the ladder. "I know, but I lost you, Freddie. I thought that I was going to have to live the rest of my life without my best friend around to get into trouble with."

Fred walked over to George and pulled him into a reassuring hug, something he had been doing a lot lately.

"Just like I said that first day I was back," said Fred as he patted his twin's back. "I'm not going anywhere, anytime soon if I can help it."

"Alright," George nodded hesitantly as he pulled away from his brother. "But can you do just one thing for me?"

"Anything," agreed Fred, "as long as it's not some ridiculously overprotective demand."

"Just, please leave the climbing up tall ladders for Sophie," George asked hopefully of his brother.

"Who's Sophie?" Asked Fred in confusion.

"I hired her after you, ya know," George skirted around the word 'died'. "Ron was trying to help out, but with Auror training it was hard. She's a really funny girl, and she's a good worker, too. She should be coming in soon, if you wanna meet her?"

"Yeah," Fred nodded. "Totally. If you deemed this girl devious, funny, and cool enough to work in our shop then I wanna meet her."

"Cool, she should be here in like fifteen minutes."

Sure enough, ten minutes later, a pretty girl with dark hair, tan skin, and big brown eyes walked through the door wearing the magenta robes that signified you were an employee at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

"George!" She called out in an American accent. "My favorite boss!"

"Sophie!" George called back, a smile growing on his face. "My favorite employee!"

When Fred stepped forward Sophie looked at him in awe.

"Either I'm seeing a very handsome double image here," she smiled playfully, "or you're the infamous Fred Weasley that I've heard so much about."

"All good things I hope," chuckled Fred. When she smiled and laughed back Fred continued, "what's that accent, American?"

"Yeah," nodded Sophie, "I'm from Boston, Massachusetts."

"Is bad that I have no idea where that is?" Chuckled Fred nervously.

"Nah," Sophie smiled brightly. "When I first got to England I had no clue where anything was either. To be honest, it's been almost a year and I still have no clue."

"Maybe I could show you around some time?" Fred suggested.

Sophie smile grew so much that it almost felt like her face could split in half. "I'd really like that, Fred."

Fred's smile grew as well, and the famous Weasley blush creeped up his neck and colored his ears pink.

George looked on at his brother and Sophie who were staring nervously and embarrassedly at each other.

"Well, you two," George smirked, "back to work, chop chop. Get back to the daily grind and all that muggle mumbo jumbo."


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys! I have a quick question about how you feel on the Fred/Sophie relationship... I'm actually really loving the thought of it and I have great ideas for them, including a couple of books that branch off of this one! Review and let me know what you think. And by the way, I see Sophie as the very talented actress, Gina Rodriguez.

Hogwarts was always the safest place a young witch or wizard could learn the craft of magic, and how to use it properly. Well, it was the safest place, until it suddenly wasn't so safe anymore.

After the Battle of Hogwarts, certain precautions were taken to ensure that Hogwarts could once again become the safest place a magical child could be, including making sure that no more unsafe teachers were hired.

In the summer preceding the first year Hogwarts would be reopened since the Battle, the newly instated Headmistress, McGonnagall, was on the search for the best professors that she could hire. Many of the positions were filled by previous and trustworthy professors, but the one position that couldn't seem to stay filled was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

To her surprise, and utter horror, McGonnagall's salvation came in the form of the two surviving Marauders, James Potter and Sirius Black.

The two were more than qualified to take the job, she guessed, having been Aurors in their young days; and very skilled Aurors at that. Overall, they were her best options at the moment and school was beginning soon. The previous year's professor had already resigned, so McGonnagall had to act quickly so there'd be someone to teach DADA in the fall. She decided to sit down and send letters to both Black and Potter explaining the situation and her offer.

That's how James and Sirius came to be patrolling the halls the on a breezy September night, searching for children out past curfew.

"This is so odd," Sirius mused as he and James walked down the corridors, wands lighting the way. "I feel like we should be under the cloak, hiding from all of the professors."

"Yet, here we are, looking for students sneaking about," James sighed. "We are the professors, now, Padfoot. We're Professor Padoot and Professor Prongs. God that sounds even weirder than Professor Moony."

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Moony was a damn good professor, though it seemed. We'd be much better off together."

James nodded in agreement. "It's like when we were kids and only three of us were put in detention. It's just not the same when it's not all of us together."

"Ugh," Sirius groaned in frustrations. "I just really wish he would Return! I mean we're wizard for Godric's sake, we should be able to make him fall from the buggin' sky with the wave of a wand!"

For emphasis, Sirius pointed his wand toward the high ceiling of the school, in one frustrated swipe of his arm.

Suddenly, and with a crack of lighting, two bodies dropped to the floor.

"Ugh," the female groaned, "Remus, is that you?"

"Yes, Dora, it's me," the very familiar voice of Remus Lupin spoke out.

"I'm bloody Merlin," Sirius mumbled in awe as he looked from his still raised wand to the pair on the floor.

"Moony?" James called out incredulously. "Is that you, mate?"

Remus' head shot up, his amber eyes opened wide and staring at the Potter man. "Prongs? Padfoot?"

"Hey, Moony, old pal," Sirius grinned jovially as him and James surged forward to pull their friend from the ground and into a three way hug. "We missed you so much."

"Y-you're here," Remus choked out over all of his emotions that were bubbling to the surface. He tightened his grip on the two men as he mumbled over and over again, "I'm not alone, you're here, I'm not alone, you're here."

"Godric, Moony," James sighed sadly as he felt tears flooding his hazel eyes. "We never meant to leave you alone here, mate."

The three reluctantly released each other, but still stayed close together nonetheless.

"But, you weren't truly alone, it seems. You've got a gorgeous wife," James continued to speak as rinks blushed red with embarrassment, "and you've got an absolutely precious baby."

"Teddy?" Both Remus and Tonks said at the same time.

Remus continued to speak as he wrapped his arms around his wife, who began to cry silently at the thought of their son being without them. "James, you've seen Teddy? You've seen my son? How is he? Is he alright? What's-"

"Moony," James cut Remus off as he began to ramble. "The boy's perfect. He's got your eyes and nose, but the rest of him is all Tonks according to Harry and Ginny. Right down to her apparent clumsiness."

"That's right," Tonks laughed in delight. "I am clumsy, very clumsy in fact. It's great to think that he got something from me, even if it's such an irritating trait to have."

"You do know that he's a Metamorphmagus also, right?" Sirius asked his cousin as he raised an eyebrow in question.

"He is?" Tonks asked hopefully as her eyes once again filled with tears.

"The little bugger gets turquoise hair when he's real happy," James informed the tearful couple.

"God, we've missed so much," Remus sighed with anguish. "I feel like I've let him down somehow."

James stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know how you feel, Moony. Lily and I felt the exact same way with Harry."

Remus shook his head shamefully. "Godric, Prongs, I'm so sorry. That was incredibly insensitive of me. You missed almost two decades of your son's life and I'm not even thinking about it. How are you doing?"

"That's not what we're talking about, Remus," James sighed. "You alway do this, mate. You change the topic when we're talking about you. Okay, listen, you haven't let your son down. You're back now, and you're going to be the best father you could possibly be. I know you will. You and Tonks are going to be amazing."

"Thanks, James," Remus smiled gratefully as he felt tears stinging at his eyes.

"Good," Sirius nodded happily, "now, let's get our arses down to the Auror's Office to get you two officially named as Returners."

"Let's," agreed Tonks as the foursome side along apparated in pairs to the Auror's Office to give Harry yet another shock.


	8. Author's Note

Just a little heads up that I fixed the chapter previously posted! A very big thanks to the people who let me know that it was the same as chapter 6! This chapter will be deleted soon, I just wanted everyone who followed the story to be alerted again that it's fixed.


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